So I got talking to my friend the other day about her love life and the general gist of the conversation was how hard dating has become for her. Her main concern was the fact that she works so much and never gets to meet people and the people she does meet are people she already has some sort of connection with. You know the ones; a friend of a friend, knows an ex or someone you went school or college with once upon a time. That's her main dating pool at the moment and although that's not bad, it's not what she wants. She wants to cast her net out a bit more and meet some new and interesting people but of course as she's stuck in an office pretty much all day, five days a week, you can imagine that this is proving difficult. I totally get it because I knew Marcus before we got together so if I wasn't with him right now I'd likely be in the same situation.

Having a couple of friends who've had success using dating apps/websites I jokingly suggested to her that she should try a dating app. Before you ask yes I was met with the usual disdain people tend to have towards dating apps. Her response was something to the effect of "Ewww aren't dating apps for old people and people who are desperate?". I of course could not totally exclude those categories from the "people who use dating apps" pool but I also do know that there are normal, young and lovely people who use dating apps because I personally know a few. I've never used a dating app myself but I have helped a friend or two manouver the ol' Tinder or Plenty of Fish (successfully may I add) to bag a date so I continued to encourage her to try it and she did.

I helped her set up a profile on Tinder because its the most straight forward app there is but to also up the odds of her finding a date we decided to set up a profile on another app called JigTalk. Ironically one app lets you see the person's picture straight away (Tinder) and the other app (JigTalk) doesn't so the experiences of using both apps were totally different for her and I for one enjoyed hearing all the stories my friend had to tell me. The whole ordeal is what inspired this post and I thought I'd use my friends experiences to share what she learned from using the two apps. I mean if I can help one single babe out there find love that would make me happy because despite this hard outer exterior I'm a champion for seeing people happy.

TINDER VS JIGTALK

So which app had the highest level of potential suitors? Tinder of course because of the obvious; you get to see the person's picture straight away. If you haven't seen Tinder in action the way it works is you see a picture on your screen and you swipe left if you don't like the person and you swipe right if you do. If both of you happen to swipe right for each other then presto, you're a match and a chat window opens so that you can get to know each other. Going off this process she got a lot of matches because she's hot obvs but diving into the actual chats themselves was a different story. For a fair few matches there seemed to be a lack of substance after the initial match. She received very few questions about likes and interests and there was also an alarming number of inappropriate pictures and sexually charged advances. Great if you're after a one night stand but not so great if you're actually looking for something more meaningful. It may have just been sheer bad luck but from talking to other people who have used Tinder there is an undertone of the app being very superficial and more of a hook-up app rather than a dating app. But then again I guess it depends on your personal definition of dating right? Personally, if I was single I don't think an app like Tinder would work for me because yes looks are important but I need someone with substance behind the looks.

Which brings me on to JigTalk! Well as I mentioned before the process with JigTalk was total opposite to Tinder. How it works is when you sign up and choose your profile picture which is covered up with a 16 piece jigsaw. All potential dates will see is a piece of your jigsaw and your tagline. The process is also made that little bit more fun because you get to see two different jigsaws and taglines at a time and you simply thumbs up the one you like. If both of you happen to hit that thumbs up button for each other you get matched and you can have conversations. The conversations start off with four ice breaker questions and with each message a piece is removed from the jigsaw to slowly reveal your identity. Sounds fun right? My friend said she liked this app better than Tinder because she felt like the app championed personality and common interests over looks which is quite refreshing when you're looking for someone to be a potential long term partner rather than a quick fling. She did however say that it was tough to balance because as much as we'd like to say that looks don't matter there is that fear of "what if I don't think he's attractive when I finally get to see his picture?". I personally think it's all part of the fun and a little mystery never killed anyone but if you're someone who would lack enthusiasm unless you got to see a picture of who you're talking to then this might not be ideal.

VERDICT

The verdict is that dating isn't easy and different ways of finding a potential suitor come with their advantages and disadvantages. What I will say though is that dating should be enjoyable and if it can be fun then even better! I can't say one way or the other which app is best and which will result in you finding your prince charming but it's good to see a different option in the form of JigTalk for people who prefer to lead with their personalities rather than their looks. What are your thoughts? Would you prefer to see the person'e picture first or do you enjoy a little mystery?

For those of you interested in my girl's progress she's got a date coming up with a guy she's been talking to off JigTalk so finger's crossed it goes well. If like my friend you're having some dating woes and maybe want to give a dating app a go, I've popped a download link to JigTalk down below so get downloading and good luck!